Complaint About Officer Prompts Internal Review

October 04, 1995|By CAROLYN MOREAU; Courant Staff Writer

SOUTHINGTON — The police department is holding an internal investigation into a complaint that accuses an off-duty police officer of harassing his neighbors and abusing his power by threatening to arrest nursery workers on his neighbor's property for creating dust as they sowed a lawn.

The complaint against Officer Bernie Mullins was made to police administrators Friday by his next-door neighbors Susan and Todd DiPentima, of 184 Flanders Road. A copy of the complaint was obtained through the town manager's office.

The DiPentimas refused to comment about their complaint Tuesday, saying they were unhappy that it had been made public.

According to the complaint, in May, workers from Ali's Nursery were threatened with arrest by Mullins as they were raking soil in the DiPentima's back yard in preparation for seeding. Mullins was off-duty at the time.

Mullins told the workers they were causing too much dust and declined their offer to wet the soil, the complaint stated.

Mullins also threatened the workers with arrest for parking their trailers on Wild Oak Drive and driving ``the length of six houses on public roads with their equipment,'' the complaint stated.

``He made these threats as an off-duty police officer. Ali's workers were so intimidated that they left the property. We had to persuade them to come back and finish the job,'' the couple says in the complaint.

Mullins did not return phone calls Tuesday.

The complaint stated that Greg Ali, the nursery owner, declined to give the DiPentimas a written statement on what happened because ``he was afraid of retribution from Bernie and/or the Southington Police.''

Ali said Tuesday that the complaint is ``pretty close to what happened.''

``This appears to be a feud between two neighbors and I have little to do with it. I trust the administration of Southington Police Department will do a good job resolving it,'' Ali said.

Chief William Perry declined to comment on the complaint Tuesday. However, he said it was ``inappropriate'' for Town Manager John Weichsel to make the complaint public.

Weichsel said letters and documents received by his office are public information and he is required under state Freedom of Information law to make copies available.

The complaint also states that Mullins wrongly called police and canine control on two occasions when the DiPentimas' two dogs were barking.

Officer Mark Beal, who responded to one call about barking dogs, is also named in the complaint because he allegedly threatened to shoot one of the dogs if it bit him, the complaint stated. Beal was not available for comment Tuesday.

Testimony from neighbor Joseph Szall, of 176 Flanders Road, is included in the complaint, saying the dogs are gentle and do not bark excessively.